Roughly five years ago jg turned me on to these socks designed by the japanese burton crew in tokyo.

The socks are sold in japan but were deemed too pricey for the us market. They sent me a pair (mediums) to check out. I hesitated as i wear large socks and wasn’t sure about the split toe. Since that day, i have not snowboarded in any other sock. They are thin, warm, grippy on the sole, and the split toe lets you spread your forefoot, much like a surf bootie, for better board feel.

A year later i contracted cancer and part of my chemotherapy regimen was to wear compression socks to prevent blood clots in my calves. They were straight ugly in a medical kind of way and interestingly they did not provide as much compression as my snowboarding socks do.

I later found out that many pro surfers and other top athletes fly with compression socks to prevent blood clots which can end an athletic career.

Consequently, my favorite snowboarding sock is also my air-travel sock of choice. The days of having a hard time putting my shoes back on due to swelling during a flight are over and i am snowboarding like a champ.

Words by jake, august 2018